Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos!
Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is
featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2011 April 4

Verona Rupes: Tallest Known Cliff in the Solar System Credit: Voyager 2,
NASA

Explanation:
Could you survive a jump off the tallest cliff in the Solar System?
Quite possibly.
Verona Rupes on
Uranus' moon
Miranda
is estimated to be 20 kilometers deep -- ten times the depth of the
Earth's Grand Canyon.
Given
Miranda's low gravity,
it would take about 12 minutes for a thrill-seeking
adventurer
to fall from the top, reaching the bottom at the speed of a
racecar --
about 200 kilometers per hour.
Even so, the fall might be survivable given proper
airbag protection.
The above image
of Verona Rupes was captured by the passing
Voyager 2 robotic spacecraft in 1986.
How the giant cliff
was created remains unknown, but is possibly related to a
large impact or
tectonic surface motion.